I am currently reading The Voyage of the Dawn Treader with my eldest child and was struck once again by the appeal of what I have elsewhere called a motivated sandbox search, 'haystack campaign', or Blue Wizards game. The conceit here is that the PCs are free to roam a sandbox in the normal way, but they are doing so in the name of searching for a person or persons (or series of items, artefacts, etc.). In the case of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the search is being conducted by boat, and the characters are looking for the seven friends of the previous King Caspian, the father of the hero, who were sent off to sea long ago and never returned. In the case of Tolkien's legendarium, the Blue Wizards were colleagues of Gandalf, Saruman and Radagast who mysteriously went off into the wilderness in the East and were never heard from again; I like to imagine a campaign involving a search for them, perhaps sent by Elrond in parallel to the adventures of the Fellowship.
Of course, the concept is protean and you could do an awful lot with it. Interplanar slavers have kidnapped the PCs' families and the PCs are searching for them across the planes! The Emperor of Wuqua's twelve daughters have all been stolen away by monkey demons and scattered across the known world! The thirteen blackbirds of Yax have all flown away and must be found! The king sired a dozen bastards and has recently died - the bastards must all be found so that the best of them can inherit the crown! etc.
There are two sets of problems, practical and conceptual, that need resolving.
Practical ones first. It seems that the best approach would be to start the PCs off in a hexmap in which the people being searched for (let's call them the targets) are located. Each target should be somewhere interesting, but there should be lots of other interesting things populating the hexmap too - the Voyage of the Dawn Treader is far too linear, because at every island the Dawn Treader stops at, the crew find one of more of Caspian's dad's friends. There should be something more challenging to the haystack campaign than that - there should be wild goose chases, dead-ends, and sidetracks. But, at the same time, just blundering around a hexmap and searching each hex is not particularly interesting either - there would need to be a balance struck. It would seem sensible that for each target there should also be a number of clues hidden about the hexmap too - people who know things; items that have been dropped; trails that can be followed; and so on. And perhaps each clue could also have a subsidiary clue, so that one clue could lead to another and so forth. This sounds easy but in real life could prove difficult to pull off - the trick being to make sure the players have agency and can go this way and that as they wish, but with an idea in mind that they are going to X or Y place on the search for something specific.
Conceptual ones next. The big issue with a haystack campaign of this type would I think be conceptual, in the sense that as PCs die there would not be a sensible way to introduce replacements. Imagine the PCs as a group of brave adventurers sent by Elrond to find the Blue Wizards. OK: so what happens as PCs die off? Where do replacements come from? There is nothing really wrong with finding clumsy ways of crowbarring them in ('Oh no - Grimcras is dead, but luckily Elrond sent his brother Jippafet to catch up with us a week after we left, and he just happens to have caught up with us! Thank goodness for that!') but this seems unsatisfactory. Could - whisper it - plot immunity be the answer?
Feel free to make whatever suggestions you like about running such a campaign in the comments. The easiest thing to do would just be to try to run one - but, lacking the time, maybe I'll have a stab at drawing up a prototype hexmap to illustrate what I am thinking of.
Probably the easiest solution is a sort of Grail Quest scenario i.e. the PCs know from the start that they are not the only ones out looking for the McGuffins, as a whole bunch of other adventurers have also been hired, commanded or otherwise incentivised to look for it by the questgiver. This has the advantage of making it easier to weave clues, linkages and recurring antagonists into what could otherwise be a disconnected series of locations (e.g. the villagers don't know anything about this grail you're after, but a rival party of knights did ride in from the north-west a week ago strangely intent on inspecting local fishermen for signs of unhealed wounds etc etc). Then, if a PC snuffs it, it's relatively easy to introduce a replacement who already has the same overarching goal; the new PC is another hero pursuing the same quest who just happened to be in the same area and now wants to team up.
ReplyDeleteIt strikes me that you could also have new PCs arrive for the usual adventurer reasons - they are in some sort of bind or danger, or are simply on the lookout for opportunity and fortune, and decide to take up with the party after meeting them because it makes sense in the moment. These are often rootless people, after all. The new PC may not be personally invested in finding a Blue Wizard, but they might be very interested in gaining Elrond's favour down the line - the Han Solo approach to becoming a hero.
DeleteYes, good solutions, both.
DeleteThis set-up reminds me of the Hunt for the Horn in the Wheel of Time series. Any number of adventurers (literally) are sent forth by the King to seek the Horn, and various groups of them interact with the main characters at various points. One Hunter does in fact become a main character. --So the idea certainly has pedigree.
DeleteThat sounds almost like The Great Race.
DeleteI think a public quest (as mentioned above) for a relatively small number of objects (say 1-3) over a relatively small area seems like the most practical way to run this sort of thing. A manageable area to search would let you keep the clues dense and the public nature of the quest makes new PCs and recurring characters possible. I would also think that adding some kind of non-quest situation in the area to be searched would provide a natural source of sidetracks.
ReplyDelete“The Dowager Queen has decreed that any hero who can bring her a fallen star may name his reward! The star was seen to have fallen somewhere in the Western Wastes, beyond the Mountains. Beware though — the Duke of Blackstone Pass swears he will not be ruled by a woman, and word is that he may soon be marshaling his banners”
I like this - I suppose the Blue Wizards are perfect for that, since there are only two of them (and since there is a ready-made 'non-quest' situation going on in the background).
DeleteCribbing from the narnian themes, the penalty for dying could be not death but sleep or turning to stone. When you awaken, you meet your savior, sent looking for you after you failed to return. Many years have passed.
ReplyDeleteMaybe that one could be saved for TPKs - I like the idea of adventurers reawakening from slumber after years and years.
DeleteAs others mentioned, the quest should be a general call, not a specific deed imparted on a Fellowship. This post made me think of Ready Player One. Wizard leaves quest and cryptic clues to a great treasure, and everyone and his uncle is out to find it! Then it's easy to slot in new PCs when one dies.
ReplyDeleteIt may be interesting to try to come up with a way of systematising how NPC parties make their way across the hexmap too....
DeleteIt’s Prince Caspian that always strikes me as gameable when I read Narnia to the kids (three times so far…). Both Dr. Cornelius’s past (he’s obviously a former adventurer) and the children’s arrival at the “dungeon” that used to be their castle. I’ve never been able to work out how to pull off the co-creation needed to simulate the “oh my gosh it’s the apple tree” moment, because it’s not fun if you just tell the players they remember planting it, but long-term goals…
ReplyDeleteI like Prince Caspian but I think it is the weakest of the books - the structure is weird, full of flashbacks and reported speech, and there are big chunks which I think are a bit boring.
DeleteA twist on the plot immunity idea: PCs who reach some critical threshold do not die; instead they are corrupted. PCs left for dead are instead captured, (allowed to) escape, and show up the next time the party rests (or are set free by the rest of the party, etc.). But now the character contains a trap set by the enemy that will trigger if/when they actually find the Blue Wizards. It could be something simple like a message from Sauron that threatens to turn the Istari or a gift with a hidden danger (like we see with the corrupted palantir; or a lesser ring stolen from the dwarves or "borrowed" from a Nazgul, etc.). Or it could be something more complex and fraught, like an action that the PC will feel compelled (or has been persuaded) to perform.
ReplyDeleteObviously the issue here is whether the players are okay with losing control over their players and/or willingly acting the part of sleeper agents of the Enemy, but there are likely to be some who jump on it -- if not for the joy of Drama, then just because the alternative is "your character dies and you have to either shoehorn in someone new or take over the role of one of the NPC porters."
This post and the last one on the motivated hexcrawl search have really gotten me thinking, and after some consideration I think I've figured out how I would prep a campaign like this.
ReplyDeleteThings you need to prep:
1: The 'needle' or 'needles'. The objectives, locations, items, or people that the PCs are motivated to search for.
2: For each needle, design a minimum of 3 or 4 'major clues' that point the players to the needle. Since these clues are going to be spread around the hexmap they will mostly be information that can be gained by interacting with an encounter of some kind; an NPC that knows where the magic sword is, an ancient map in a dungeon that shows the way, etc. Spread these clues around the hexmap, but they should be made relatively difficult to find by simply wandering around.
3: For each major clue, design 3 or 4 leads pointing to that clue: an NPC who doesn't know where the magic sword is but knows a man who does know, a witness who saw the missing wizard heading east towards the mountains, etc. Spread these around the hexmap and make them relatively easy to find if the party pursue obvious methods of looking for information.
4: Design the rest of the hexcrawl. Add false leads and red herrings as desired.
To illustrate, let's consider a classic but flawed hexcrawl, X1 Isle of Dread. The main problem with this module is that it's way too sparse - too much map and not enough locations and encounters. But with some additions and modification I think it has the potential to make a decent simple example of the motivated hexcrawl search.
Yes, that's the kind of process I was thinking about. The icing on the cake would be NPC parties who are also searching for the needles and whose progress and interaction with the clues/landscape can be tracked randomly.
DeleteThe Needle: The Lost Temple of the Kopru, said to be located somewhere on the Isle of Dread.
ReplyDeleteMajor Clues
-Map showing location of the Temple made by deceased explorer, lying next to his skeletal remains in the aerie of the gargoyles.
-Pirate captain has learned of that the Temple is on the central plateau from a captured native but has yet to learn of a way up.
-Sorcerer living in an ancient ruin in the jungle knows the way to the Temple, but will only tell someone willing to slay the chief of the village of Tanaroa.
Leads to Major Clues (I won't do them all, but here is one as an example)
Leads to the Sorcerer:
-The shaman of Tanaroa village knows nothing of the Temple, but he suggests that the strange old hermit who lives out in the jungle might know.
-The Neanderthals of the north hills know only of the abandoned 'temple' in the jungle. They stay away from that accursed place as they believe that a sorcerer lives there.
-The sorcerer is served by a colony of giant ants who dwell within the ruins. He routinely sends them out to kidnap villagers to use in ghastly rituals of human sacrifice. If tracked the ants could be followed to his lair.
The village of Tanaroa and the Neanderthal caves are keyed to the hexmap, so when the players go wandering around and run into either of these locations they can ask for leads to the Temple and get pointed in the right direction. The giant ants can be keyed to the random encounter table. You can obfuscate the leads as much as you like; the PCs might talk to seven different NPCs in Tanaroa village who each give a different rumor or lead, but only some leads will actually get them any closer to their ultimate goal.
Yes, very good - exactly this.
DeleteThe most natural way to run this sort of directed sandbox is to have whatever it's "pointed at" be not of personal interest to the player characters, but of common interest to the whole mapped area. In the most straightforward example: the land groans under the Tyrant, everywhere his soldiers oppress the people, he is far too powerful for any one faction to overcome, etc. This avoids the problem of replacing PCs - rebels are a dime a dozen. More importantly it maximises sandbox elements while maintaining a sense of purpose: every subordinate of the Tyrant slain weakens him, every friend made is an ally in the revolution, every powerful weapon acquired gives you an edge, treasure may be used to raise armies or pay bribes, the Tyrant rules the land so wherever you go you'll find something that helps or hinders him, the very act of exploration helps you in the final calculation by letting you know the lay of the land and its people.
ReplyDeleteThis doesn't require, but marries well to, a search for a series of macguffins like you describe. The local factions have an interest in the parts of your Spear of Eternity too, though some may want to keep them hidden, or steal them away. That ties them into the living web of relationships, rather than a more linear trail of breadcrumbs. Even just getting in someone's good graces might lead them to trust you and pass on useful directions, or they might have been hiding a piece of the damn thing all along. If not, Spears alone do not assure victory against Dark Lords, you still need all the other advantages you can get so nothing wasted.
The space is there to create something very deep and rewarding, I think.
DeleteFor the second one, making the quest a universal problem would make it easy for the party to recruit new adventurers to refill their ranks. For example, if the sun is dying, stopping that would be in the interests of people on the next continent, not just the party. The problem with this solution would be that it makes the quest about saving the world, which might not be what we want.
ReplyDeleteI have an allergy to saving the world quests, like I think many of us do who have read too much fantasy fiction.... But it could also be a refreshing change from all the grimdark out there.
DeleteSome years ago the crew at the Miskatonic University Podcast did a long actual-play series through the Masks of Nyarlathotep campaign in which they found it most useful for the players of dead or incapacitated PCs to take up previously-met NPCs, characters that already had some knowledge of the mystery at hand. It made the integration of new party members a good bit less crowbar-dependent.
ReplyDelete